


The Jewel at the Center of the Universe

by MaldaineD



Series: The HalBarry Trilogy [3]
Category: Batman (Comics), Green Lantern (Comics), Robin (Comics), Superboy (Comics), Superman - All Media Types, The Flash - All Media Types, Wonder Woman - All Media Types
Genre: M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-01-12
Updated: 2018-01-12
Packaged: 2019-03-04 00:31:00
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 5,665
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13352712
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/MaldaineD/pseuds/MaldaineD
Summary: A horrible magic spell that could crack open the very fabric of the universe?  The continued budding romance of a superhero couple?  The addition of help from a stage magician?  Teen Titans?  What more could force Barry Allen and Hal Jordan from talking to each other about their feelings?A witch.





	The Jewel at the Center of the Universe

“You don’t owe me anything, girl.”

The young woman shook her head. She looked over at a book sitting on the bedside table. It was ripped around the seams, and the spine cracked in so many places it was a surprise it hadn’t broken in half.

“I didn’t teach you how to properly do it. I’m telling you.”

The girl smiled at the bedridden woman. She walked over, gave the woman’s green skin a kiss, grabbed the book, and she finally walked out the door.

“This is why I never approved of superheroes taking children under their wing. It just makes them more likely to get themselves killed.”

The woman turned the oxygen tank up a little bit, breathing deeply and trying not to cough. After several counts, she finally found a proper rhythm and felt herself drifting off to sleep. Once she loved sleep, and now she feared it. Retirement nearly killed her, and the cancer wasn’t helping.

~~

Hal gave Barry’s right peck a kiss, grazed the nipple with his teeth and started to stroke his dick slightly. Barry started to stir a little bit, but didn’t quite wake up. A nibble on his earlobe got Barry’s eyes twitching and Hal smiling...but after another fifteen minutes, Barry still hadn’t woken up, and Hal’s hand was starting to cramp.

“Really, Barry?”

There was no response aside from a slight snore that Hal found disgustingly cute.

Hal picked his pillow up, slammed it on Barry’s face and started to put his clothes on and walk out the door. He laughed a little bit when the Flash barely even flinched, only stopping his snoring long enough to ask, “What happened?’

“Nothing, and that’s the problem.”

“Oh, did I go coma again?”

“Understatement, but it’s not gonna stop me from coming in later today...if that’s okay?”  
Barry finally moved the pillow from over his face and gave Hal an embarrassed smile before he nodded his head and rolled over, his butt showing slightly from under the covers. Hal decided that he was going to stay for at least a few minutes longer. Besides, his anger was only feigned. Well, kind of.

“This is why I’m always late,” Barry said with a grin.

“I’m learning so much in such a short amount of time.”

“I work fast.”

~~

The Watchtower was quiet when they woke up again. Barry ran through each room in a matter of seconds, and when he returned, he let Hal know that it was safe to cross the hall in just his underwear. They both knew it was strange for the entire league to be gone with no word, and a part of them wondered if the Fiddler had come back and started another musical based set of traps.

“Unlikely, as I did run through the entire complex,” Barry said.

Hal gave him a little punch on the arm, and they both decided to head to the meeting hall to see if they could contact the League to see what was going on. The entire week had been utterly strange: Onomatopoeia taking over Gotham, the Fiddler finding his way into the Watchtower, and now the entire league gone for no specified mission? Even the computer didn’t show the two of them where the rest of the League was.

“Okay, so this is starting to make me nervous,” Hal said.

“Again,” Barry said, looking over at Hal. He got a little closer to him. Sure, they were both heroes, but Barry had started to grow a little accustomed to having Hal with him when things got weird, and third time's the charm. Well, first time had been the charm, second time confirmed it, and now the third time was making him realize that he didn’t hate the idea of having these feelings for Hal, even if it hadn’t been very long since their little fling started. He hadn’t felt this way since Iris, and honestly, it felt good. 

“Should we send out a signal?” Hal asked.

“Knowing Batman, the system is safe to broadcast from. He’d never make the same mistake twice.”

Hal reached over, switched on the broadcaster, and he sent out a message seeking response from the rest of the League.

“Batman, reporting from Gotham. I’ve been meeting with the Mayor to sort the mess left over from the beginning of the week. As far as I was aware, neither of you are on active duty today.”

Hal and Barry looked at each other, both of them praying that the video transmitter wasn’t on. The looks on their faces would give Batman enough material for ridiculement for the next few months at least. When a response didn’t come through, Batman simply said, “Don’t tell me you both forgot?”

“No, mostly, we were just worried about you and wanted to make sure you were okay,” Barry said, and Hal could tell that there was more sincerity in his statement than lie. “We couldn’t see the location of anyone in the league.”

“I can assure you, I’m fine. I think the two of you should enjoy your day off. After all, you’ve done good work this week, so don’t expect a call from us unless it is a state of emergency. As for location tracking, for now we’re sticking with broadcasts. The Fiddler stole mapping software from us, but the reason is still unclear.”

Hal and Barry dumbfounded faces at Batman’s compliment would have given him enough material for a YEAR of ridiculement. It was unlike him to compliment people, even when they did do a good job, so the fact that he did it just now, well….

They decided to get out of the Watchtower before he called back because knowing the world, the universe even, it wasn’t going to be long before their day off turned into a working vacation. Slipping on some street clothes, Hal and Barry teleported from the Watchtower down to Central City. Hal had agreed that Barry’s town was a little bit better for a quiet date. At the very least, the Rogues were much less difficult to deal with since they had little desire to hurt people, so if things did get hairy, the stakes were a little lower. It provided exactly the atmosphere the two of them needed. Relaxation was near impossible when all you could ever think about was what was happening half-way across the world, what you couldn’t see.

“So, what do you want to do?” Hal asked.

“Ice cream?” Barry said with a smile, motioning behind him to the ice cream trolley across the street at the edge of a park.

Hal’s hand didn’t put up much of a fight when Barry grabbed onto it and started dragging him towards food. The flavors were basic, but the line suggested that the quality was high. It wasn’t even a particularly hot day, so something must have been drawing the crowd.

After Barry paid for the ice cream, the two of them sat on a bench and began to eat. It was pretty quiet for a moment. The two of them didn’t really look at each other, just forward, down at the ice cream, forward again, then some awkward looks towards the side. It was the first moment, Barry realized, that they didn’t have some pressing matter forcing them away from a real conversation, and there wasn’t sex currently happening. This was, perhaps, the first moment since the fling started that they just had to sit and think about what was happening. Barry had to admit, it was odd finally realizing this moment was real. They were on a date, weren’t they?

“So…” Hal said.

“Yeah…” Barry said.

“How, how are you feeling?” Hal said as he looked over towards Barry.

“I’m good,” a smile creeping across his face as he said it.

“Yeah?”

Barry looked over at Hal, a beaming smile, “Yeah.”

Hal stretched over and gave Barry a soft kiss on the cheek. For some reason, that made Barry’s heart flutter even more than Hal fucking him. His face was almost a bright as his Flash suit.

Barry dropped his ice cream when a buzz in his breast pocket startled him out of his weary daze. A small chirp came from Hal’s pocket as well. Looking down, assuming some sort of call from the League, it was a distress beacon from the Teen Titans. Barry answered first, placing the communicator to his ear.

“Hello? Who’s broadcasting?” A young voice said over the communicator.

“This is the Flash. Who is this?”

“Oh god, you’ve got to help,” the voice said, near sobbing. “You have to help me. I can’t...I can’t get him to wake up. I can’t wake him up, and I’ve tried everything. Even kryptonite doesn’t do anything, you’ve...you’ve got to come and help.”

“Barry, who is it?”

“I’m not sure. Can you please tell me who’s broadcasting?”

“Robin. This is Robin, and Superboy, I, a woman came in and did something to him,” the voice responded after a few moments.

Barry relayed the message to Hal. Hal, slightly exasperated, gave him a nod, and Barry rocketed off towards Titans’ Tower. Hal found a convenient place to change into his uniform before flying off in pursuit. A day off is hard to come by when you’re a superhero, but he had so many questions for Barry, and while he flew off towards Titans’ Tower, his mind went through them. What did Barry want to be when he was a kid? Did he always like boys, or was this more of a new development? Should he be worried about Iris? Should Barry be worried about Carol? Hal needed a moment to sit back with Barry and just feel a different kind of connection. It had been so long since Carol, and the idea of meeting someone that he connected with was overwhelmingly desirable, and the way Barry’s face scrunched up when he was kissed on the neck could have killed Hal.

His thoughts were cut off when he reached the tower, the door left open and footprints in green paint walked down the steps back towards the town situated just in view of the tower. Hal walked in, the sounds of people in commotion were far off in another room, and it didn’t take him long to find the sources of the noise. Robin was bent down over Superboy, blowing air into his lungs and given him chest compressions while Barry read through a stack of books on a desk.

“What happened?” Hal asked as he walked into the room. Barry and Tim Drake looked up, though both quickly went back to their task.

Superboy had his costume ripped open, symbols burned onto his skin, though it didn’t seem like there was any sort of means to do such a thing. Hal infrequently  
interacted with Tim Drake, or any of Batman’s other children, but the stress the young man was experience caused Hal worry. It was no secret that Robin was steady as a stone when it came to difficult situations, but he was out of control in this moment.

“I think I found something,” Barry said.

Hal flew to him, looking over his shoulders. He was reading through a book of Gaelic runes and writing. The symbols on Superboy did look similar to the ones in the book that Barry was reading, and the looks of the book suggested that these runes aligned to make some sort of spell.

“You think that this is what’s written on him?” Hal asked.

“I do. The symbols match up, but this spell make no sense to me.”

“I’m a scientist, not a magician,” Hal said in mocking of Barry, though Barry chuckle and quickly waved it off, scolding Hal given the timing of the joke. 

“Can you help him?” Robin said, still leaning over Superboy, sweating from his repetitive motions.

“No. But I know someone who can,” Barry said.

Barry walked away for a moment, urging Hal to look after the boys while he was away. Hal looked around after Barry left, mostly at the walls, not exactly sure how to handle the situation. He had never really talked to the Titans before, and he was not going to pretend he was great with kids. Speedy was the only sidekick he ever spent a great deal of time with, and that didn’t go to well for a while. Where should he even start?

“So, um,” Hal started.

“You’ve never really done this before, have you?” Tim said.

“No. It was already that obvious?”

“Yes,” Tim said with a bit of a smile, though there were undeniable tears leaking from the sides of his mask.

“It’s gonna be okay. Barry’s got this, and you’ve got me,” Hal said, a hand on Tim’s shoulder, kneeling next to Superboy.

“That was a little better. I’ve just lost him once before, and I don’t want to do that again.”

When Barry came back, he was with a young woman: tall, black hair, a large top hat on the crown of her head. Both Hal and Tim stood up, looking her over, but both of them with a confident look on their faces. She hadn’t worked with many in the League, but she was certainly known by all of them. Zatanna Zatara was a source of magic that Batman called upon when the need arose.

“This is Zatanna,” Barry said, the young woman giving a small bow.

“Where’s the supposed magic?” Zatanna said, not taking even a single moment. She moved to the comatose Superboy, rubbing fingers down his chest as she read the runes that marred his body.

“Do you know what it is?” Tim said, taking a step back, a little bit closer to Hal.

“Yeah, actually,” Zatanna said. “It’s old magic, from the Book of Eternity. It’s a binding of flesh spell, though you mostly see it in the creation of golems. I guess it can be used on any created flesh, that not born naturally.”

“Kon is perfectly natural,” Tim said hurriedly. “I mean, he’s still new to this world, but he’s, you know, a person.”

“I wouldn’t suggest anything different. He’s a great kid. I’ve had the pleasure of meeting him once before, and I plan to be here when he wakes up as well. Now, we need a way to burrow into his skin, and someone fast enough to tattoo him while his skin is weakened. Kryptonite and someone connected to the Speed Force should suffice, and luckily, we have both,” Zatanna said.

“What can I do?” Hal asked.

“We need to keep Superboy away from the radiation as much as possible. I believe that your constructs might help,” she said. “As far as I know, some have been able to create kryptonite radiation with Power Rings. Can I trust that you can do the opposite and protect from it as well?”

“I mean, I can try.”

She put each person in their place and instructed them about what to do. Each worked their part, the Flash adding to the runes, Robin holding the piece of kryptonite behind Hal’s constructs to keep the weakened Superboy as safe from the radiation as possible. Zatanna guaranteed that it would work. 

~~

Wonder Woman was the first to enter the dilapidated house in the middle of the Florida suburb. It was hot, still, musty. Superman came in next, looking around, taking in the smells, the air around them. There wasn’t anyone in the sitting room, just a few pairs of shoes that didn’t look like they’d been used in quite some time. The couch had scratch marks on it, as though the owner once owned a cat or two. The kitchen had a peculiar smell, and several sets of dishes were left in the sink, a little mold growing where the faucet dripped into the basin, but there was something more, something aromatic, something entrancing.

Wonder Woman pushed the door open to one of the bedrooms, inside an old woman hooked up to an oxygen tank looked up from her disturbed slumber.

“What do you want, Amazon?” she said, each word fogging up the clear plastic mask on her face.

“We came to talk to the Prairie Witch. The one that haunted Opal City.”

“Well, you found her,” the old woman said.

Superman entered the room, though Wonder Woman kept him at a distance. It was never discovered if the Prairie Witch knew real magic, and while most didn’t know of Superman’s vulnerability to magic, it was something the core members of the Justice League were aware of, and Wonder Woman wasn’t about to let Clark get into harm’s way. The Prairie Witch seemed to take notice of this.

“I don’t plan to harm you,” she said. “Besides, I’m old and frail. What could I do even if I wanted?”

“A friend of ours believes that you may be trying to cast some grand spell. He seems to have pinpointed the nature of the spell, one that finds something potent,” Superman said.

The old woman laughed until she started a coughing fit. Both Wonder Woman and Superman moved to help her, but she held up a hand, halting her fit as well. She placed a hand under the pillow by her head and brought a small vial with what looked like a swirling vortex of darkness into view.

“I may have trained another, taught her a few things. She was a quick study, and I fear what she might draw into this world, but I’m proud of a woman who takes what she wants,” The Old Woman said as she crushed the vial in her hand.

“Superman, get out!” Wonder Woman shouted as a blast of shadowy energy burst forward.

~~

Superboy stirred, only slightly, the runes etched into his skin slowly healing over after the operation to augment them had finished. Zatanna heaved a sigh of relief, and Tim’s entire physicality changed, a smile spreading across his face. Robin had been squeezing Hal’s hand the entire time, and somehow, when Superboy woke up, he managed to squeeze even harder than he was when they thought the clone might not wake up.

“He’ll need rest, but he should be fine now,” Zatanna said.

“What exactly did we do, Zatanna?” Hal asked when Tim stood up and went to Superboy.

“Like I said, the runes were a binding of flesh spell, and since Superboy wasn’t born naturally, it looked like it worked. We simply augmented the runes to make the pattern no longer match, and since the spell stopped making sense, it was broken. Simple.”

Hal and Barry looked at each other before Barry said, “I’m a scientist, not a magician, right?”

“This is potent magic. You said a woman with green skin did it?” Zatanna asked Robin.

“Yes. She came in, blasted me across the room, and did this to Superboy. He couldn’t even put up a fight. Though her skin was painted green, not actually green.”

“Looks like he inherited Clark’s weakness to magic,” Zatanna pointed out before she turned back to Hal and Barry. “And you said this is the third weird thing that’s happened this week?”

“Yeah, silence in Gotham, the Fiddler breaking into the Watchtower and stealing some mapping software, and making everyone dance, and now this,” Barry answered.

“The unwavering silence, the dance of the gods, and the flesh of a golem. This is very powerful magic, and unfortunately, I know it well. She even found a map to use. That’s not good.”

“You know about all this?” Hal asked Zatanna.

“Yes. It’s a spell from the Book of Eternity. It’s supposed to unlock the 30 Aethyrs. Like I said before, it’s old magic, Enochian. Supposedly in the center of the 30 Aethyrs is some sort of great gift, though it’s unclear what it is, and plenty of lesser magicians have speculated, but even the most powerful have never been able to complete the spell. The mapping software, I’m assume she can use it to locate the best place to open the Aethyrs.”

“This woman had help, and lots of it, I’m guessing,” Barry said.

“Or she’s just smart and knew who to ask,” Zatanna said. “Don’t discount how efficient this has been. If she can pull this off, she could make any weak mind her slave if she needed.”

Superboy jerked awake with an intense scream and was on his feet in a matter of seconds. Looking down at his suit, he seemed more upset that someone had wrecked it than he was about having a spell cast on him. His concentration was quickly broken when Robin planted a kiss on his lips. When it ended, they saw the three adults, hands over their eyes.

“Please don’t tell Batman,” Robin said quietly.

“I didn’t see anything,” Hal said with a wicked smile.

“Me either. Did you Zatanna?” Barry said with a little laugh.

“Just young love, but how fleeting is can be in the minds of adults. Am I right?”

An howling noise from outside the tower cut Superboy’s moment short. Everyone told him to suit up in a new costume, and within moments, they were rushing out the door to see what had caused such a horrible noise.

~~

Wonder Woman dragged Superman from the wreckage of the house, a perfect orb of darkness had been created, taking most of what was in the middle of it with it when the spell dissipated. Even Wonder Woman had been severely weakened by the blast. When she cleared the both of them from the epicenter of the spell, she pull her communication unit from her belt. She didn’t feel harmed, just exhausted, as though they were meant to be incapacitated. She was a clever person, that Prairie Witch.

“Batman, here,” a voice said through the speaker.

“Superman is down. We found the Prairie Witch, but she’s dead now, killed herself in some blast of unknown magic.”

“Is Superman okay?” Batman shouted.

“He’s breathing, but I can’t get him to wake up. She said she trained someone, another Prairie Witch. She wasn’t specific.”

“An emergency signal was sent out from Titans Tower a few hours ago, but no further communication has been made. I’m currently on my way there. Will you be able to manage?”

“If anyone can, it’s me,” Wonder Woman said as she turned the unit off, falling straight on her back and letting out a mighty sigh. She gave Superman’s arm a light punch and said, “Wake up, boy scout.”

Alas, he let out a snore instead.

“Soak up that Florida sun, Clark.”

~~

“What the hell is that?” Superboy asked as they made it to the harbor just outside of Titan’s Tower.

“It’s starting. She’s unlocked the first five Aethyrs!” Zatanna screamed as lightning and wind whipped back and forth from the epicenter of the storm that raged overhead. A young woman floated in the middle of it, and every minute or so, another ring of cloud appeared in the sky above her head, another Aethyr unlocked.

“What are we supposed to do?” Hal asked.

“We have to take her out. She’s casting a spell. If we can find a way to silence it, we should be able to stop it,” Zatanna said.

“Superboy and Green Lantern, you fly out and see what damage you can do. Sorry, Conner, but you’ll have to rest when it’s over,” Barry said.

“Kryptonians are supposed to heal quick. I’m ready,” Superboy said with a nod.

“That’s the spirit! I’m going to try to save the people out on the boats, and Robin, I need you to try your best to help Green Lantern and Superboy,” Barry said without hesitation. “If you have time, contact as many members of the League as you’re able.”

“And me?” Zatanna asked.

“You’re the only one that knows what’s going on. That means you do whatever you can to stop it,” Barry said. “Blast her, or something!”

“Sure,” Zatanna said. “Llaberif!”

A giant ball of fire shout out from Zatanna’s hand towards the young woman in the eye of the storm. Without missing a word of the spell, the young woman swung a hand, and a powerful gust of wind blew the fireball back to the sender. 

“Lepsid,” Zatanna screamed, and right before the ball of fire smashed into them, it was banished.

Superboy and Green Lantern flew out into the middle of the harbor. The winds began heaving frigid air as the salt water started to freeze, slowly cracking from the choppiness of the water underneath. Within moments, huge sheets of ice were carried into a torrent, seeking out the two superheroes. Hal created a construct to block a huge chunk that flew directly at him, and Superboy, a bit more nimble in the flying department, was able to maneuver around most of them until one knocked him out of the sky and into the gelid water below. 

Meanwhile, the Flash sped around the harbor, grabbing fisherman, tourists, and enthusiasts alike as he tried to clear the harbor of people, protecting them from the magic cast by the new Prairie Witch.

Superboy recovered, launching himself into the air and directly at the sorceress. Just when he was about to reach her, a wall of wind sent him flying back towards Zatanna, not even the power of his flight was able to push through the wind before he was expelled backwards.

“Hctac yobrepuS!” Zatanna said, a net of light appearing above her, catching the young superhero before he was knocked into buildings to her right.

“Thanks!” He shouted back as he took off, ripping ice sheets from the ocean and tossing them back at the Prairie Witch in retribution for her own onslaught.

Barry sped back to Zatanna, a gust of air blowing her hair into her face as he skidded to a stop.

“This isn’t working,” Zatanna said.

“No kidding. How is she this powerful? She’s so young!”

“It’s untapped potential, yet she’s controlling it. She’s truly a powerful magician, but if you notice she’s trying to keep people preoccupied so they can’t reach her. When Superboy got close, she had to move the storm in front of her, and I noticed an opening. We just have to focus up because she can’t multitask very well, at least not yet.”

Eighteen Aethyrs were open now. 

Robin hurled a few batarangs and explosives towards the Prairie Witch, jumping from boat to boat as they were destroyed by the storm. Without anywhere to go, he screamed for Conner as he jump towards the freezing water, Superboy catching him just before he hit the surface and carrying him back to a dock.

“Thanks for the grab, but now I want you to throw me at her,” Tim said.

“You sure?”

“Do it!”

Superboy spun once, pulling Tim into the air, and as he made a complete 360, he let go, Robin quickly closing the gap on the young woman as Hal pelted her with construct after construct. Superboy took off from the dock a moment later, realizing that if something happen, someone needed to catch Tim again. Sure enough, when a hail of ice and lightning force Hal to stop his assault, the Prairie Witch quickly deflected Tim far and away from her, but not before he threw another bomb which exploded right near her, but much of the blast was absorbed by another pocket of wind.

“Look, now!” Zatanna said as she cast another fireball spell at the Prairie Witch, the young woman stunned by the bomb.

The Flash began to run in circles, trying to create a water spout as Hal helped to direct the attack towards the young Witch. Conner fired a blast of heat vision at her as he sped to Tim’s rescue, but as the attack was about to land, she disappeared. Without another moment’s thought, the Flash dashed forward and brought Tim back to the main group, Robin having recovered from being hurled away by grappling his way to safety in a small harbor across the bay.

“Thanks,” Robin said as he joined up with the others near Zatanna. “Looks like the Flash beat you, Kon.”

“Yeah, this time,” Superboy said with a quick smile.

“No problem. I’m more concerned about where the Prairie Witch went,” Barry said.

“No telling,” Zatanna said, “but I feel like she isn’t gone. There are 29 rings. She wouldn’t just leave the last Aethyr unopened.”

The five heroes stood still for a moment, an eerie calm over the harbor as the rings continued to circle overhead, snow falling despite the humid temperature when they had originally gotten there. Hal got a little closer to Barry when he noticed him shiver, Conner the same for Tim. Zatanna just gave the two couples a sort of begrudging look before she pointed between them, out on the ice.

“She’s there!” Conner said, using his super vision to see further out than the rest. “But she’s just holding up a hand?”

As though she could hear from all the way in the middle of the bay, the Prairie Witch pointed a finger towards the center of the rings, cocked her finger back like she was making a finger gun, and pulled the ‘trigger.” A torrential beam of light rocketed down from the sky as a powerful wind blew the clouds outwards until there was nothing left but an inescapable blackness in the sky. One after one, brilliant stars filled the darkness, the entire city, the bay, everything caked in a dim glow.

“What’s happening?” Tim shouted, his voice barely able to make it to the other’s ears, a veil of quiet permeated the entire area.

“She opened it,” Zatanna said.

The Prairie Witch once again disappeared. Zatanna extended her arms, and she grabbed hold of Barry and Tim’s hands. Tim and Barry grabbed Conner and Hal respectively.

“Wollof eht eiriarP hctiW!” Zatanna shouted.

The sea of stars extended as far as the eye could see, the world below far gone from them. There was no air where they went, but the intense stillness of the scene made all of them hold their breath without even thinking. In the middle of the vast space, the Prairie Witch stood by a stone, wrapped in words of light, though none of it made sense, and when Hal opened his mouth to ask, nothing came from it, just empty space, enough that no one even turned to look at him.

The Prairie Witch grabbed ahold of the stone in the middle of the Universe, broke a small piece from it, and she turned back to look at the heroes staring on. She gave a nod; Zatanna returned the favor.

A ferocious blast of air sent Zatanna and the boys crashing through the Universe until they stood, right where they started, the chunks of ice ebbed and flowed with the tide of the bay. The wind settled, and despite the clear blue skies, a snow continued to fall, though the air was cold, a warmth began to blow in from the south. People came out of buildings, children stamped in the powder, and the superheroes could only ponder what they had just seen. The only thing absent was the Prairie Witch. 

“That was the center of the Universe,” Conner said, a dumb look on his face.

“I’d guess so,” Zatanna answered.

“Batman is never gonna believe this,” Tim said as he wiped a small tear away from his cheek.

“But what did she take?” Hal asked.

“And why did we let her go?” Barry asked.

No one answered, but everyone seemed to know that her escaping was exactly what should have happened, no need to ask, no need for mind reading, nothing. It was just the right thing to do.

~~

“Superman is recovering well, but he will need some more rest. I guess we solved whether or not the Prairie Witch had powers, though what a cruel way to learn it,”  
Batman said still nursing his broken arm from his earlier encounter with Onomatopoeia. “While we investigate the new Prairie Witch’s motives, we have asked Zatanna to become a resident member of the Watchtower to help with any magical aspects that may arise. A vote, yay or nay.”

The entire league agreed.

~~

“It’s so weird, isn’t it, that we saw something that no one else may ever see,” Barry said.

“I’ve seen space plenty of times. It wasn’t much different,” Hal replied. He stroked Barry’s back as they pulled the covers up and over.

“I’ve seen a lot, but that was something else.”

“I’ll admit, it was, well, I’m not even sure I could describe it. It seems so present, but also so far away, you know?”

“I’m glad that I was with you.”

“I couldn’t think of anyone else I’d rather have been with at the center of the universe.”

~~

The young woman pulled back a handful of earth and placed the chunk of rock inside, covered it with the displaced earth, and put a small splash of water over the spot. She reached into her backpack, thick and heavy, and pulled a large tome that was old and frayed at the edges, the spine so well used, it was a wonder that the book hadn’t cracked in half. The earth gave a hollow shake, and within moments a massive tree of golden leaves, red ivy, and the perfect shade rose into the middle of the plains, a secret place she had always loved as a child in the heart of Missouri. 

The young woman sat down next to the tree, pulling a knife from her pocket, she carved a name, Abigail, and next to it, another, Lorelai.

“For you, old lady,” the young woman said.

She cracked the book open, and she began to read. She knew the old woman would hear, wherever it was that she had ended up. But how could she really know?

It’s was easy for someone who stole a piece of the Universe.


End file.
